For many organisations, the introduction of mandatory iXBRL filing from April 2011 brought little immediate benefit.

This point was made quite forcefully by a number of those who took part in the CCH iXBRL survey conducted in December 2011. If iXBRL filing brings no major benefits, can it at least be done without significant detriment?

This short paper considers five characteristics of an iXBRL software solution which will allow firms to achieve full compliance with minimal disruption and cost.